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EULOGY 



LIEUT. COL. MARTIN SCOTT, 



DELIVERKD AT 



BENNINGTON, VT., MARCH 3, 1848. 



GEN. GEO. K DAVIS, 



OF TROY. 




TROY, N. Y.: 

FROM THE STEAM PRESS OF J. C. KNEELAND AND CO. 
1848. 



EULOGY. 



Fellow Citizens, — 

The occasion upon which we have met is one 
of sad and mournful import. It appeals to the no- 
blest, the purest emotions of humanity, and finds a 
response in every heart whose pulsations own the 
commonest attributes of human nature. 

We have met to perform the last sad offices which 
belong to friends, relatives, brothers and countrymen. 

Lt. Col. Martin Scott has fallen, — and his cold 
and voiceless remains now lie before us, to receive 
the last sad honors that his grateful and sorrowing 
townsmen and sympathizing countrymen can pay 
them. 

In the providence of that God who holds the earth 
in the hollow of his hand, he whom we delighted to 
honor and cherish in the holiest ties of friendship and 
brotherhood, has been taken from us, to sleep in the 
land of spirits. 

The paths "that once knew him will know him 
Ho more forever." The light of the family hearth- 



stone has been suddenly extinguished by the gloom of 
death. The manly form has been prostrated, and 
withers in the grasp of death. The social circle, 
which brightened in the glow of valor and manhood, 
has been darkened by a weeping sky and lowering 
clouds. The vigor of life, bearing the noble impress 
of a divine hand, — the sunshine of hope and happi- 
ness — the ruddy glow of health and joy — is sudden- 
ly succeeded by desolation, sadness and woe. 

Society mourns the loss of one of its most highly 
prized members, — whose high sense of honor and so- 
cial qualities of head and heart, combined with those 
rare virtues and excellencies which adorn and dignify 
human nature, placed him pre-eminently high in the 
estimation of all who enjoyed his acquaintance. 

Patriotism weeps for the fall of one of her noblest 
sons. And well she may ! For, in her long list of 
illustrious heroes, she cannot boast of one whose most 
ardent impulses and manly energies were more sa- 
credly devoted to her holy cause, or whose arm was 
readier to strike for her cherished principles. 

Humanity mourns the death of a brave and gen- 
erous heart, whose every chord vibrated with her 
most hallowed emotions. Mino^led with the current 
of manly courage and chivalrous daring, was an ex- 
alted benevolence, which challenged the admiration 
of all. 

Friendship is called upon to-day to pay the last sad 
tribute to one whose heart was always warmed by 
its genial glow, — first and foremost with active en- 
ergy in all her claims, — ready to give with an un- 
sparing hand and a generous impulse, whatever tri- 



bute was asked in her cause, — quick to perform all 
those kindly offices and social acts which adorn hu- 
manity and smooth the rugged pathways of life, — she 
mourns the fall of one who can never be replaced, 
save in memory's waste. 

But, the t^ars which Society, Friendship, Human- 
ity and Patriotism drop upon the bier of the depart- 
ed, contrast feebly with the heart-rent anguish of those 
who, by the ties of consanguinity and more hallowed 
associations,stoodin nearer and dearer relations of life. 
To them, the remembrance of him whose remains 
are this day to be consigned to the tomb, is hallowed 
by a thousand associations of love, affection and at- 
tachment. To them, he was not alone the hero and 
gallant soldier, the possessor of manly virtues and 
chivalrous daring, the patriot and the friend ; but he 
added to those qualities which have placed him so 
pre-eminently high in the public estimation, those 
home virtues of the head and heart, which are prized 
in the husband and brother above any other attri- 
butes that dignify and adorn human nature. But 
propriety forbids that we should enter into the sacred 
circle around the family hearth-stone which death 
has clothed in desolation. That infinite Beino- whose 
omnipotent eye penetrates the darkest chambers of 
gloom, is alone permitted to know the anguish, be- 
reavement and sorrow, which are hidden in the re- 
cesses of the human heart. But He has left them the 
blessed assurance that " if he maketh sore, he will 
bind up ; if he woundeth, his hand will make whole " 
But not alone do friends and family mourn for the 
departed. An honored country claims the right to 



pay the tribute due to one of her bravest sons, — a 
country upon whose altar were consecrated the best 
energies of life, — for whose liberties his arm was ever 
ready to strike. That country places his memory 
among an illustrious line of heroes, — among whom 
she had not a nobler son, — and mourns* the loss of a 
soldier brave in battle and wise in council. She will 
cherish and honor the memory, and take care of 
the reputation of those heroes who have sacrificed 
their lives to maintain her integrity and national 
honor mispotted; and placing their gallant deeds in 
indelible characters upon her records, she will hand 
them down to posterity among the "few, the im- 
mortal names that were not born to die." 

I need not recount the deeds of the deceased. 
They are familiar to all. Who has not heard of the 
name and gallant daring of the chivalrous Scott 1 
A native of this town, he entered the army in 1814, 
as Lieutenant, and rising lineally to the rank of Major, 
was breveted Lt. Col., for his gallantry at Monterey, 
in Worth's brigade. Whenever and wherever an 
opportunity occurred, he was the first and foremost 
in the fight, leading on his men to victory and glo- 
ry. In the hard-fought battles of Palo Alto, Ros- 
acea de la Palma and Monterey, his gallant bearing 
was the subject of universal commendation. Lt. 
Col. Scott fell in the action before the Moleno del 
Rey leading his own favorite regiment, the gallant 
5th, U. S. Lifantry, to which he had been attached 
with more than brotherly devotion, since the year 
1818. In the glorious battles before the walls of 
Mexico, he was signally distinguished for the bravery 



and intrepidity which characterized himself and his 
regiment. As the serried lines were mowed down 
by the galling fire of the enemy, they closed up with 
military precision, marching forward with undaunt- 
ed spirit to the enemy's strong works before them. 
The devotion of the men under his command was 
unbounded in enthusiasm and respect. They all 
loved and appreciated the valor of their leader, and 
knew that victory, under his command, was certain. 
When he fell upon the field of battle, before the 
walls of Mexico, a soldier, seizing a cloak, covered 
it over his body, and stood weeping over his remains, 
determined not to desert in death the gallant soldier 
whom he was proud to honor in hfe. " Who have 
you there V asked an officer who had observed the 
soldier. " The bravest man of the 5th regiment," was 
the prompt reply of the faithful and devoted soldier. 

In the same battle an anecdote is related of the 
deceased, which illustrates his character. While 
his command were sheltered for a moment from 
the destructive fire of the enemy, he was noticed 
exposing his whole front to their fire ; their balls 
flying about him like hail. Some one remarked 
to him, " Col., do fall down and shelter your body 
from the balls of the enemy." His prompt and 
characteristic reply was, "Col. Scott never stoops." 
Nor did he. ever, until death, the leveler of all, did 
its work, and brought him down. 

As a tactician and disciplinarian, Col. Scott had 
few equals and no superior, in the army ; and I have 
the testimony of an officer of high rank and distin- 
guished mihtary reputation, pronouncing him the 



8 

f)est shot in the world. The fame of his unerring 
rifle was not only as broad as the circle of his own 
country, but had reached other lands. Death and 
his rifle were familiar acquaintances. 

In the despatches to the War Department, Lieut. 
Col. Scott is frequently spoken of in terms of the 
highest commendation. "I cannot close this report,"^ 
says that distinguished ofHcer, Gen. Worth, " with- 
out a passing tribute to the gallant dead, among 
whom the service mourns the high-souled Scott, bre- 
vet Lt. Col., 5th regiment, on whom the command of 
the storming party devolved," and others who fell 
that day. "All of these gallant men fell as, when 
it pleased God, they would have wished to fall, fight- 
ing bravely at the head of their troops, leaving a 
bright example to the service, and spotless names to 
the cherished recollections of their comrades." This 
expression is but the tribute which a gallant soldier, 
himself " the bravest of the brave," pays to his com- 
rades who were his equals in personal bravery and 
manly daring. 

But we turn to a nobler, a more exalted spectacle 
of respect for the honored dead. Who has not 
heard that heart-felt voice of a nation's praise — of 
a nation's gratitude — as it swelled across the broad 
expanse of our country ! Who has not felt that 
we owe to the honored dead a deep and lasting debt 
of gratitude and respect ! The praises of the brave 
have been the theme of every tongue. The winds 
seemed to have whispered an anthem, as soft and 
sweet as seraphs sing, over the distant and lonely 
graves of our fallen countrymen. Every breath that 



ccmes from the sierras of Mexico, tell of valor, of 
daring, of patriotism, as holy, as pure and exalted 
as Greece could boast of in her palmiest days. 

The lips of youth, fresh with the virgin innocence 
of childhood, have learned to pronounce the i am?s 
of our heroes in strains of praise. The grey-haired 
patriots of other days, who did honor to our arms in 
our last struggle with the mother country, with trem- 
bhng voices and eyes dimmed in the lapse of age, 
have looked up and blessed our gallant army in 
Mexico ; and as they were gathered to their fathers, 
have felt that they were leaving an honored and 
beloved country in the hands of sons who have the 
ability and spirit to prctect and defynd its liberties. 

The poet has recounted in deathless numbers, the 
praises of our heroes, and their hard-fought battles. 
From the lowly cottage to the lordly mansion, — 
from the humblest walks of life to the most elevated 
circles of greatness and renown, — from the child 
that lisps at its mother's knee, to the aged veteran 
ripe with the fulness of years whose locks have been 
frosted with the blasts of many winters, — through 
all grades and all stations of society, there has been 
but one unanimous feeling and sentiment, — that of 
profound respect, admiration and sorrow, for the 
brave who have fallen, and of honor and glory for 
the living. This universal sentiment of gratitude 
and esteem is bounded by no sectional lines ; is con- 
fined to no state limits. It is a nation's voice, perva- 
ding the whole expanse of our common country. It 
comes from the rich savannas of the sunny South, and 
stretches away to the green hills and cloud-capped 



10 

summits of the North, — a swelhng burst of praise 
and gratitude from the rock-bound coast of the East, 
where the pilgrim fathers quietly repose in their olden 
graves, it mingles its notes with the eternal voice of 
the ocean, and borne to distant climes, finds an echo 
in every American breast. It stretches across the 
iVlleghanies and swells along the verdant prairies of 
the West, to the farthermost bounds of civilization ; 
and the fires of patriotism, although many an honor- 
ed and noble son has been sacrificed upon its altar, 
burn with a brighter, a steadier glow than ever. 

It is no longer a problem whether America can 
maintain her self-government and independence to 
the remotest age. We have shown to the world 
that our citizens are equal to any and every emer- 
gency, whether it be in the tented field, or in the 
councils of the nation. 

Nations and people can do nothing more credita- 
ble and honorable to themselves than in paying re- 
spect to their gallant defenders and brave men. A 
high appreciation of exalted talents and chivalrous 
daring, is the first requisite to ttfe possession of those 
noble qualities. And what a spectacle is presented 
to challenge the admiration of the world, in the he- 
roic achievments of our gallant army ; in the devo- 
tion and patriotism which they have exhibited on all 
occasions ! The fires of death as they swept through 
the serried columns and thinned the ranks; the 
death-rattle and shrieks of the wounded and dying ; 
the certain danger and probable death ; — none of 
these things, exhibited in their most frightful fea- 
tures, served to retard the impulse, or to check the 



31 

purpose of men, animated by the ardor of patriot- 
ism and an exalted bravery. Sunken and degenerate 
indeed must be that people who can be indifferent 
to deeds like these. 

The heroic age of Greece has passed away. Her 
heroes have gone to their long homes, and centuries 
have swept down the tide of time, crumbling in their 
iron steps the monuments of her ancient art and re- 
finement. The Delphic oracle no longer whispers 
forth its mysterious and prophetic warnings. The 
hero, the sage and the warrior, no longer pay their 
devoirs at the sacred sanctuary, at the foot of Par- 
nassus. Yet this age has stamped its impress, in in- 
delible characters, upon the world's history. It was 
the age of bravery and of daring; of heroism and 
devotion ; and the world has awarded to it a death- 
less fame, and has enshrined the memory of its an- 
cient heroes in the brightest chaplets of glory. 

But the history of Greece, though it boasts of a 
long line of illustrious heroes, commencing with 
mythological deeds of a Hercules, and embracing 
the heroic and self-sacrificing devotion of a Leonidas, 
and the death-contemning courage of Themistocles, 
contains upon its deathless pages only a few of those 
great and immortal names that have stood out like 
landmarks on the track of time. 

The Cato and Brutus of Rome ; the Hannibal of 
Carthage ; the Sydney and Hampden of England ; 
the Wallace of Scotland ; the Emmet of Ireland ; 
the Tell of Switzerland ; the Kosciusko of Poland, 
and the Vasa of Sweden ; and sublimely towering 
above them all, our own immortal Washington, — are 



12 

names that will live in the recollection of man as 
long as freedom and liberty, high-daring and exalt- 
ed bravery exist in memory's store-house. 

But while the human mind rests with admiration 
upon the personal bravery and daring of the heroic 
age of Greece ; while it contemplates the chivalry of 
the middle ages, and looks upon the achievements of 
the daring martial nobles of that period, it seeks in 
vain for that exalted devotion to the holy principles of 
liberty, which have signalized the history of American 
patriotism. The heroes and heroism of our own age 
belong to an entirely different class, and owe their 
oriorin to sentiments and emotions which were un- 
known, or but faintly dreamed of, in the earlier 
ages of human society. 

The early heroes of Greece, like the lordly bar- 
ons of the middle asjes, were the owners of the soiL 
and held their followers in a subjection and depen- 
dence at once deo-radinor to the finer emotions of 
humanity, and destructive to all those exalted per- 
ceptions of freedom which animate the heart of the 
American hero and citizen-soldier. 

They fought for power, for plunder, and extended 
rule ; our own heroes for the undying principles of 
liberty, the defence of which an All-wise Creator 
has placed in our hands. From the daring of an- 
cient Greece and the chivalry of the middle ages, 
the human mind looks in vain for those wholesome 
lessons of devotion to the holy principles of liberty 
and equality which have guided the soldiers of our 
country in their hard-fought battles. 

The spectacle of personal bravery and a readi- 



13 

ness to sacrifice life in defence of any principle, al- 
ways challenges our admiratian and claims our re- 
spect. The world has, from the earliest history of 
man, placed upon its highest summit of fame, those 
whose perso al daring was the most conspicuous. 
Tiie heathen mythol:)_oy of the ancients owes its 
orio^in to the admiration which was paid to those 
most celebrated for extraordinary feats of valor, and 
disregard of personal danger. 

But how different is the adoration which we pay 
to the heroes of our own country ! Our admiration 
is excited by the spectacle of bravery and personal 
daring of as high an order as any that belonged to 
the most renowned heroes of ancient times ; and 
linked with an expansive benevolence, an enlight- 
ened Christianity, a nobleness of purpcs^, asacied 
devotion to all those great principles which charac- 
terize an enlightened age. 

The hero who lays down his life upon the altar 
of American freedom can look calmly to the broad 
expanse of sky which canopies his head upon the 
battle field, and conscious that his arm has been ani- 
mated by an integrity of purpose at once sacred and 
revered, can " die like the good man who wraps his 
drapery about him and lies down to sweet and pleas- 
ant dreams." 

While the cloud of battle hovers around him ; 
while war and carnage present a picture of desola- 
tion which well may appal the stoutest heart, his vis- 
ion is enraptured by looking down the tide of time 
to that glorious future, when the enlightened march 
of civilization and the universal extension of free 



14 

principles and free government, with all their concom- 
itants of learning, Christianity and brotherhood, shall 
unite in one common purpose the whole race of man. 

To the patriot who dies to perpetuate those hea- 
ven-born institutions which have for their object the 
elevation of the masses and the humanization of the 
world, no cloud of battle is so dense as to obscure a 
future, glorying in the highest excellencies and the 
most exalted worth. To him there is the proud con- 
sciousness of knowing that divine wisdom has de- 
creed that man must pass through these initiatory 
steps before he can stand up clothed in those exalted 
attributes which make the perfect being. He dies with 
the consciousness of knowing that the dark gloom 
of error, superstition and ignorance, is to be suc- 
ceeded by a future in which Christianity and liberty 
are to attain their highest excellence. He is con- 
scious that in the moral, as in the natural world, 
these storms are necessary to purify an atmosphere 
made noxious and deadly by ages of darkness and 
gloom. He beholds, one by one, the old relics of 
barbarism succeeded by new, holy and enduring in- 
stitutions, which claim as their highest objects of 
ffood, the final elevation and christianization of the 
whole human family. The dying agony of the pat- 
riot is softened by knowing that he falls a martyr to 
the establishment of principles which become more 
and more exalted, as man progresses to that higher 
state of humanity which is his birth-right and destiny. 

To the patriot governed by exalted perceptions 
of freedom and humanity, death, though it comes in 
its most appaling forms, has no terrors. Whether 



15 

the principle for which he is contending shall then 
succeed or fail, the consciousness that future gene- 
rations will honor his memory, is ever present. 

Human governments may rise and fall, and be ob- 
literated in the desolating march of time ; nations 
may glory in the pride of power and greatness, and 
may wither and crumble in the grasp of ruin ; the 
great and good may be consigned to the tomb in 
ignominy and disgrace ; cities may sleep in desola- 
tion and be blotted from the memory of man ; laws 
and institutions, now sacred and hallowed, may die, 
and sleep on the abyss without a surge ; — yet the 
deathless fame of the hero shall outlive them all, and 
be a watch-word of patriots and brave hearts in all 
coming time. 

The fame of heroic achievements asks no pillared 
marble, proud monument or splendid mausoleum 
to perpetuate its existence. It is the world's proper- 
ty ; and, written in the story of valor and truth — pre- 
served in the archives of every nation — it can only 
be obliterated in the final desolation of all things. 

There seems a mysterious, an All-wise hand in 
the guidance of this immutable rule. The riches of 
wealth may be snatched from us with the speed . of 
thought; their perpetuity to those who succeed us, 
hangs upon a brittle thread. The station and posi- 
tion obtained only by exercise of exalted talents and 
years of toil, may wither in the first hour of their 
possession. But the memory of great deeds and ex- 
alted worth will live through all time, brave every 
storm and commotion which may agitate human so- 
ciety, a lasting and enduring legacy for posterity to 



16 

ifcOQDr azid imita3e. Like tiie pillar of fire which 
y / ' ' je pati-PTBT of God 5 chosen people Through 
: " " J ' " *'^? fame of great and Dohle 

: .^red immorLalitT, will make 

clear the path war of car, and Hg it the fi>oti;teps 
of pu^teiitTT to aj3 emnlataoii of the exam le. Thus 
iK>ble action? hecon^ a rich legacy, worth more 
than tiie i^^ealih of eiBpires. oatlivicg in splendor and 
gioTT the ino^t I'rilli&i:: achievements of Art and 
Scienee- 

BuT yrL.^-z '.Li occasion upon which we have this 
dav asseiained- admonis-hes us of the nncertaintv o£ 
bmn - out with unerring certainty our 

duti*' - . _^_.^ - ^ .-_. - tne world in which we live, and 
of a higher dutr to our God- 
It ©eems to eay, in that still small voice which pen- 
etrates the tecret springs of human action, " Wan- 
derer on a stormy sea." be ever ready for duty to 
your country, and above all '^ be prepared to meet 
your God." Xegriect no opportunity to perform those 
offices of honor, integrity, valor and self-devotion, 
which heaven has ^ven you for an exalted purpose. 
Be active while the Aa\' hsuSU, for the long night corn- 
ed no man can work, — the golden opportu- 
Lt/.-, T ^^--en you for bettering the condition of your 
fellow man, cannot be too devotedly, too nobly spent 
— ^ In the midst of life we are in death,'" — "stars 
have their time to falli and flowers to fade and with- 
er at th.e north wind'fc breath; but thou, thou hast all 
f^- - -If; 01k Death/' 

: - -- ; and go in their wonted times; the 

tides of ocean, governed by immutable laws, have 



17 

iheir ^bb and 1km. Yet Desu^ ike hmmk — -^ 
eral vidi Unae>'-^€0-e%iiiteat ws^ eienigkj^. — 
icy haaad npoa its rk:Um, stX iM hmm^ att iS, ^^v 
in an cHmee, and osder :aE <:^'^nsai^b»i^:f»^ 

ot die hsudj zod ihe hra.re~-^d^ }Mik.paef: m am 
wbom we novr deplore; — dbefe lelk aaid residsstm. 
vales which itretch awar zcatm joar «3ale — otio^ 
azenowdodKdiallie^ciomof whiter^ mM esft'ifju^ 
cast off dieir soabie kne ajid pat ok 1^. 
sanaaaar. The flowen vindb vidbezei is £;i^ .^^ui^^': 
of vintn-, wiH be levitified br die seasal ^ioar <^ 
Spring. Tlie widieied Waadbae «£ ^e H2-afe( 
win be elodied vxlii new veiiinFe. Tiis mgm-»jgsak 
iialee dbaU again pot on anev^ tbeir eoKsaSS ^t^^k. 
Bwd and flowezs, and leaf and Tine; ibe SCEO^sm^ 
let, now CTvsbed beoeadioiir feet, dboS asaanp^ 
fixlk newebamK, a£ 6e^ as dK»e ^92 dedbed 
adon's nsHHS. The now descried wood asd sbb 
ttaJk again rgoice in tbe sweet caz^ a ^isib 
die mosie of natnze. Tbe seasams wafi 
so, vkb seed time aad bar«7^L 
nncbansinv oomses. Ciiifizasaoa v 
widen, nnlil bounded cmhrb-rt^ ^aiast eoodraes «: 
Creadon, it leacbes ererr r^zz.- ui 

But die Dead, d^ - 
leviatlbe aoenes of JL 




18 

She there shall dress a sweeter sod, 

Than fancy's feet have ever trod " 
" By fairy forms their dirge is sung, — 

By hands unseen their knell is rung ; 
There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray. 

To bless the turf that wrap= their clay : 
And Freedom shall awhile repair 

To dwell a weeping hermit there !" 



¥ 



EULOGY 



T 



LIEUT. COL. MARTIN SCOTT 



DELIVERED AT 



BENNINGTON, VT., MARCH :i, 1848, 




GEN. GEO. R. DAVIS 



OF TROY. 



TROY, N. Y. : 

FROM THE STEAM PRESS OF J. C. KNEELAND AND CO. 

1848. 



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